The present invention relates generally to construction and surveying equipment and is particularly directed to a clamping apparatus of the type which holds a laser light detector to a structural member. The invention is specifically disclosed as a laser detector clamp apparatus that includes a reversible jaw adaptor which allows a single clamp apparatus to be attached to virtually all shapes and sizes of structural members and rods typically found on a construction job site.
Hand-held laser detectors are regularly used in construction and surveying applications, and at certain times these hand-held laser detectors are desirably clamped or otherwise securely attached to some structural member of a job site, including a building structure. This structural member can take many forms, including different sizes and shapes of grade rods, such as round rods, oval rods, and rectangular rods. In addition, such a device may be desirably attached to some type of I-beam, or boards.
Existing methods for securely attaching a hand-held laser detector to some building member usually consist of a travelling jaw (much like a vise), or a C-clamp methodology. In both of these arrangements, the moving jaw is tightened with a lead screw. In the case of the travelling jaw methodology, the lead screw does not translate as it is turned. In the case of the C-clamp methodology, the lead screw does translate as it is turned.
In general, the fixed and moving jaws used in the two above-noted conventional methodologies are flat and parallel to one another. Some existing clamps are designed with a xe2x80x9crampedxe2x80x9d jaw on the moving piece, and a xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d jaw on the fixed piece. This allows clamping to limited sizes of round and oval shapes, and also to some rectangular shapes. However, none of these approaches work well on all available rod shapes and sizes. In fact, some manufacturers of conventional clamps make different clamps for different rod shapes.
Accordingly, it is a primary advantage of the present invention to provide a laser detector clamp apparatus that can be used with virtually all available shapes and sizes of rods used on job sites in construction and surveying applications. It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a detector clamp apparatus having a reversible jaw adapter that allows attachment to rectangular rods and beams, or flat boards when the xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d side of the jaw adapter is facing out; or to be attached against round, oval, or some rectangular shapes when the xe2x80x9crampedxe2x80x9d side of the jaw adapter is facing outxe2x80x94which allows the customer to attach the laser detector equally well to a variety of rod shapes and sizes while using a single clamp apparatus. It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a laser detector clamp having a reversible jaw adapter in which the user may change the orientation of the jaw adapter by removing a screw holding the jaw adapter in place (or unlatching or unsnapping the jaw adapter to become loose), reversing the orientation of the jaw adapter, and then re-attaching the jaw adapter with the screw (or re-latching or snapping the jaw adapter back into position).
Additional advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an improved hand-held laser detector clamp apparatus is provided having a reversible jaw adapter that contains both a xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d face and a xe2x80x9crampedxe2x80x9d face, for use in attachment against virtually all available sizes and shapes of members found on construction sites and in surveying applications. The clamp apparatus includes a main clamp frame that holds a travelling clamp jaw with a clamp lead screw, or some other type of translation mechanism. A reversible jaw adapter is attached to the clamp jaw by an adapter screw, and this reversible jaw adapter can be attached with either its flat face out or its ramped face out. A detector bracket and detector screw are also provided as part of the clamp apparatus to hold a hand-held laser detector in place. As an alternative construction, the present invention could eliminate the adapter screw altogether by substituting a latching mechanism therefor, or perhaps by making the reversible jaw adapter of a configuration so that it is inserted into the clamp jaw by a press fit or by a snapping action.
If the flat face of the reversible jaw adapter is oriented so as to be xe2x80x9cout,xe2x80x9d then the clamp apparatus will generally be most useable in attaching to flat surfaces, such as rectangular rods or boards. When the ramped face of the reversible jaw adapter is xe2x80x9cout,xe2x80x9d then the clamp apparatus can be used for attachment against a variety of different member shapes, such as round rods, oval rods, and certain sizes of rectangular rods. Moreover, irregularly-shaped members could also be generally attached against the clamp apparatus while using the reversible jaw adapter with its ramped face out.
To use the reversing feature of the clamp apparatus, the travelling clamp jaw is backed away using the clamp lead screw (or other translation mechanism) from whatever surface or member that the clamp apparatus is presently attached against. After the clamp apparatus has become free, the adapter screw is loosened to an extent that the reversible jaw adapter becomes free from the travelling clamp jaw. After that has occurred, the orientation of the reversible jaw adapter is manually reversed, then the adapter screw is tightened to hold the reversible jaw adapter in place against the travelling clamp jaw. Now the clamp apparatus is ready for use in clamping against a different size or shape of member. Alternatively, the reversible jaw adapter can be released from the clamp jaw by unlatching a latching mechanism, or by unsnapping or pushing out and away from a press fit with the clamp jaw.
A further alternative construction could be provided by which the reversible jaw adapter is mounted directly onto the clamp frame instead of on the travelling clamp jaw. Another further alternative construction could be provided in which the clamp lead screw (or other translation mechanism) actually translates with the travelling clamp jaw, as in a xe2x80x9cC-clampxe2x80x9d-type construction.
Still other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description and drawings wherein there is described and shown a preferred embodiment of this invention in one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.